Wilson County goes from wet to cold

Capt. Steve Spencer, who monitors weather for the Wilson Emergency Management Agency, released his weekly summary of data Monday from the National Weather Service. It seems that after a brief vacation, Old Man Winter is moving back into Wilson County.

NWS forecasters included Wilson County in a winter weather Advisory Tuesday at 8 a.m..

"There's high pressure over Kansas City that is pushing cold air into the region," Spencer said Monday afternoon. "And we still have moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. When those two air masses meet we could get sleet and rain, but they're not predicting snow."

As usual, everything hinges on just how cold it becomes.

"Temperatures will drive it all," Spencer said. "If it is above freezing, it will just be cold showers, but if it is below freezing there could be ice on bridges and overpasses. If it's cold enough conditions will be favorable for black ice so everyone should use extreme caution."

Temperatures, as usual, are expected to be even colder in the higher elevations.

"I also included the hazardous weather outlook for the counties on the plateau for our schools who may be headed that direction for sporting events," Spencer added.

Last weekend, Wilson County received plenty of rain, but not as much as in points south.

"We had a good amount of rain," Spencer said. "From Sunday at 7 a.m. to Monday at 7 a.m., my rain gage showed we received 1.68 inches. We had some ponding on roads, and the creeks were running, but they stayed within their banks."

Spencer said despite the extreme change in temperatures on Sunday the recent warm weather made ground temperatures too warm for most cold precipitation to stick. That doesn't mean that bridges and overpasses won't become hazardous if there is more freezing rain Tuesday and Wednesday.

Monday afternoon, both Wilson County and Lebanon schools kept normal schedules, and it remained to be seen if any local schools would postpone school starts Tuesday morning.

"This situation will need to be monitored closely," he said.